INCEFA-PLUS: INCREASING SAFETY IN NPPS BY COVERING GAPS IN ENVIRONMENTAL FATIGUE ASSESSMENT

INCEFA-PLUS is a five year project supported by the European Commission HORIZON2020 programme. The project commenced in mid 2015. 16 organisations from across Europe have combined forces to deliver new experimental data which will support the development of improved guidelines for assessment of environmental fatigue damage to ensure safe operation of nuclear power plants. Within INCEFA-PLUS, the effects of mean strain and stress, hold time, strain amplitude and surface finish on fatigue endurance of austenitic stainless steels in light water reactor environments are being studied experimentally, these being issues of common interest to all participants. The data obtained is being collected and standardised in an online environmental fatigue database, implemented with the assistance of an INCEFA-PLUS led CEN workshop on this aspect. Towards the end of the project it is planned that INCEFA-PLUS will develop and disseminate methods for including the new data into assessment approaches for environmental fatigue degradation. This paper provides an overall update to project developments since it was last presented at PVP2018 (PVP2018-84034). As well as being a standalone paper, the paper will also serve as an introduction to other papers being submitted to covering specific aspects of the project. In particular this paper summarises: • The results for Phases 1 & 2 testing. • The plans for Phase 3 testing • A summary of emerging sensitivities to, and inter-dependencies between: o Mean strain and stress, surface finish, strain amplitude and hold time. o Environment o Material o Laboratory • Latest thinking on direction for the project in its last year. • The latest thoughts on how the project results will be used to advance development of improved assessment guidelines. • A summary of dissemination achieved and planned. • Ideas for work after the end of INCEFA-PLUS.

MOTTERSHEAD Kevin;  BRUCHHAUSEN Matthias;  CICERO Sergio;  CUVILLIEZ Sam; 

2019-11-20

ASME

JRC115731

0277-027X (online),   

https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/PVP/proceedings-abstract/PVP2019/58929/V001T01A014/1068776,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC115731,   

10.1115/PVP2019-93276 (online),